Overview of the Collection
SUNY Upstate Medical University766 Irving AvenueSyracuse, NY 13210
Jacobsen, Ellen Cook 1919-2013
The Ellen Cook Jacobsen MD Papers
1919-2013
2.09 linear feet
This collection contains the papers of
Ellen C. Jacobsen, who was the first female instructor in the Department of Medicine and
a Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University. The
collection has six series: Printed Materials, Writings, Photographs, Correspondence,
Dean Search, and Subject Files.
2014.0006
Collection materials are in English.
Biographical Note
Ellen Cook Jacobsen (1919-2013) completed her undergraduate training and her master of
science degree at Cornell University. She was a 1950 graduate of the Syracuse University
College of Medicine. In 1954, Dr. Jacobsen became the first female instructor in the
Department of Medicine at SUNY Upstate. She established the Student Health Service at
Upstate in 1955 and the first Employee Health Service a decade later. Dr. Jacobsen felt
strongly that physicians should have formal training in counseling and she took a leave
of absence from the faculty in 1968 to complete a residency in psychiatry. In 1971, she
rejoined the faculty with appointments to both the Departments of Medicine and
Psychiatry. She was the only faculty member at that time to hold dual appointments. Dr.
Jacobsen was uniquely suited to head the Liaison and Consultation Service for
Psychiatry, which interfaced between that department and all other clinical services in
University Hospital to improve patient care, a position she was appointed to in 1972. In
1990, Dr. Jacobsen retired from Upstate. She was awarded the Distinguished Alumna Award
by the Upstate Alumni Association in 1990; the Onondaga County Medical Society Community
Service Award in 1991; the SUNY Upstate President’s Award for Distinguished Service in
1998; and was named to the SUNY Alumni Honor Roll in 1999. In 2014, the lobby outside
the Medical Alumni Auditorium in Weiskotten Hall was re-named for Dr. Jacobsen and her
husband Carlyle F. Jacobsen, who was the first president of SUNY Upstate.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains the papers of Ellen C. Jacobsen, who was the first female
instructor in the Department of Medicine and a Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at
SUNY Upstate Medical University. There are six series in this collection.
Printed Materials: there are publications, biographical information, and ephemera in
this series.
Writings: these documents consist of class notebooks and notes, exam books, patient
notes, her graduate thesis, reports, and planners.
Photographs: these materials include professional and personal photographs from and of
Dr. Jacobsen.
Correspondence: this series has professional and personal correspondence to and from Dr.
Jacobsen.
Dean Search: these materials include application files from a dean search in 1991.
Subject Files: these files cover various topics from Dr. Jacobsen’s career.
Arrangement of the Collection
The Ellen Cook Jacobsen MD Papers have been arranged into six series.
Related MaterialCarlyle F. Jacobsen PhD Papers
Separated Material
Dr. Jacobsen’s spider web display box, printer plates, and awards can be found in the objects collection.
Subject and Genre Headings
Jacobsen, Ellen Cook 1919-2013
Medical education
Psychiatry
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Syracuse University, College of Medicine
Women in medicine
Access Restrictions
The patient file in the Writings series and the Dean Search series are restricted. Please contact the archives for more information about this collection and its viewing policies.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from the Archives and Special Collections of the SUNY Upstate
Health Sciences Library and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations,
excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
The Ellen Cook Jacobsen MD Papers, Archives and Special Collections in the Health Sciences Library,
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Acquisition Information
Gift of Patricia J. Numann, on behalf of the estate of Ellen Cook Jacobsen, 2014.
Inventory
Printed Materials
Internship certificate.
1951
Box 1
Marriage service book.
1958
Box 1
Medical pocket quarterly volume 17, number 4, Reed and Carnrick, Jersey City, NJ.
1937
Box 1
Membership cards.
1975-1995
Box 1
National Board of Medical Examiners.
1950
Box 1
Outline for preparing a library paper from the Thrift Press, Ithaca, NY.
1938
Box 1
Passport.
1974-1979
Box 1
Physician’s license.
1955-1956
Box 1
Personal stationary.
undated
Box 1
Prescription pads.
undated
Box 1
Wedding invitation.
1958
Box 1
Residency certificate.
1952
Box 1
Syracuse University.
1946-1948
Box 1
Syracuse University College of Medicine bulletins.
1948
1950
Box 1
SUNY health report and physician’s certificate.
undated
Box 1
SUNY upstate medical center memorandum.
undated
Box 1
Business cards.
undated
Box 1
Birth certificate.
1919
Box 1
Certificate of completion of college preparatory course from the knox school.
1938
Box 1
1958
Box 1
Commencement, the knox school.
1938
Box 1
Cornell University.
1940-1943
Box 1
Fall faculty convocation program.
1998
Box 1
High school diploma, corning free academy.
1938
Box 1
How to behave in a hospital by Bert Milton MD, Rust Craft Publishers, Boston, MA.
1936
Box 1
Resume, bibliography, and appointments and salary.
1958
1967
1971-1972
Box 1
Syracuse University Hospital of the Good Shepherd special board meeting invitation.
1965
Box 1
Telluride association, cornell branch.
1940
Box 1
Calorie counter inscribed “To Cookie from Jake”.
c. 1965
Box 1
Treatment of subacute bacterial endocarditis with Paul A. Bunn MD, annals of internal medicine volume 41, number 3.
1954
Box 1
Treatment of pneumococcal pneumonia with erythromycin and carbomycin (magnamycin) with Paul A. Bunn MD, AMA archives of internal medicine, volume 92.
1953
Box 1
High school transcript.
1937
Box 2
Clippings from undergraduate graduation.
1942
Box 2
Clippings of visit to Painted Post, NY.
1958
Box 2
Clippings of wedding announcement.
1958
Box 2
Clippings on graduation and medical tests on alumni.
1967
Box 2
Clippings of obituaries.
2013
Box 2
Writings
Biochemistry graduate class notes.
1947
Box 2
Physics graduate class notes.
1947
Box 2
Physiology graduate exam booklets.
1947
Box 2
Anatomy medical school notes.
1946
Box 2
Biochemistry medical school notes.
1952
Box 2
Medicine, neurology, and oncology medical school notes.
1949
Box 2
Neuroanatomy medical school notes.
1946
Box 2
Third year medicine diagnostics laboratory medical school.
1954-1955
Box 2
Third year medicine diagnostics laboratory medical school.
c. 1954
Box 2
Speech in children medical school notes.
c. 1955
Box 2
Embryology undergraduate notes.
1941
Box 2
History undergraduate notes.
1940-1941
Box 2
Hygiene undergraduate notes.
1940-1941
Box 2
Music undergraduate notes.
1941
Box 2
Zoology undergraduate notes.
1941
Box 3
Psychology patient notes.
1973
undated
Box 3
1945
Box 3
Planners.
1977
1979
1981
Box 3
Report to the faculty subcommittee on clinical resources of the planning and development committee of the medical center.
undated
Box 3
Photographs
Adulthood.
1940-1980
Box 3
Childhood.
1919-1938
Box 3
Class of 1950.
1990
2010
Box 3
Duchess Ellen, calf, at Harden farms.
undated
Box 3
Jake and Cookie.
1959-1960
1967
1970
undated
Box 3
Later years.
1982
1997
1999-2000
2002
2005
2011-2012
undated
Box 3
Portraits.
1919-1960
Box 3
Unveiling of portrait.
1991
Box 3
Childhood photo album.
1920-1940
Box 3
Lake Winnipesaukee photo album.
1980
c. 1995
Box 3
Correspondence
Psychiatry residency.
1968-1971
Box 4
Professional license.
1962
Box 4
Physician’s club of New York.
c. 1965
Box 4
The knockers society.
1965
Box 4
Jules Hirsch.
2013
Box 4
Iran trip.
1963
Box 4
Class of 1950.
1960
Box 4
To Dr. Jacobsen.
1957
1965
Box 4
Wedding.
1958
Box 4
Holiday cards.
1958
undated
Box 4
Dean Search
Dean search.
1991
Boxes 4 and 5
37 folders
Subject Files
Ellen Cook Jacobsen MD fellowship in psychiatry.
2003
Box 5
Indonesia project.
undated
Box 5
Employed personnel committee.
1964-1965
Box 5
Department of medicine rounds, conferences, and clinics.
1965
Box 5
Department of medicine rotation of interns and residents.
1962
Box 5
Pediatrics department holiday letter.
1958
Box 5
Department of medicine holiday letter.
1962
Box 5
Student health services at Syracuse University.
1969
Box 5
SUNY committee on health services.
undated
Box 5
Tuberculosis task force.
1992
Box 5
Line graph of weight to weeks drawn by George H. Bishop.
undated
Box 5
Retirement from Upstate.
1990
Box 5
Kappa kappa gamma.
1939-1940
Box 5